Chapter 3

Chloe's POV

Ethan turned his chiseled face towards me, looking at me quizzically.

"What's wrong? Is there something on my face?"

"The auction isn't over yet,"

I struggled to steady myself, pulling the corners of my lips into a slight smile.

"Why did you leave too?"

"You weren't there, so I had no desire to stay."

Ethan's eyes were filled with tender affection and obvious concern.

"You look so pale. Are you feeling unwell?"

As he spoke, he leaned closer, raising a hand to feel my forehead.

His touch, at that moment, felt like a snake's tongue licking my skin.

I fought the urge to push him away, forcing out a strained smile, and lowering my gaze to avoid his scrutinizing eyes.

"I'm fine, probably just tired from the past few days."

Ethan examined me closely.

Just as I thought he was about to press for more, he suddenly spoke.

"Let's have a baby."

I looked up, startled, meeting his deep, unfathomable eyes.

A baby?

Before I could recover from the shock, Ethan suddenly lowered the car's partition. The next second, he cupped my chin with one hand and leaned in to kiss me.

His kiss was as forceful and tender as always, carrying his familiar possessiveness.

In this moment, I knew exactly what he wanted.

My hands instinctively pressed against his chest, pushing him away with repulsion.

Ethan paused.

"What's wrong?"

My breathing was a little unsteady. I turned my face away, hastily fabricating an excuse.

"I'm a bit tired. I'm not in the mood today."

"You've never refused me like this before, no matter how tired you were. What's gotten into you today?"

Ethan's deep eyes stared intently at me, his scrutinizing gaze making my heart skip a beat.

He raised a hand, his fingertips gently tracing my lips.

"Did I do something wrong to upset you?"

He paused, then his gaze, sharp as a hawk's, captured my dodging eyes.

"Or... did you hear something?"

My heart nearly stopped in that instant.

He can't find out!

He absolutely cannot find out that I heard their entire conversation!

If I confront him now, I'll be utterly defeated, and the Davis Group will be completely ruined.

I have to keep up the act.

Just like him, I have to play it perfectly.

I desperately suppressed all the churning emotions. When I looked up again, my face showed a thin layer of annoyance and embarrassment.

"I just feel... doing this in the car isn't quite right."

"After all, the driver is still up front."

Ethan chuckled.

"Don't worry, the partition is down; he can't hear us."

Before his words finished, he lowered his head and kissed me again.

My body stiffened for a moment, then I forced myself to relax, trying to respond to him as naturally and passionately as usual.

Ethan seemed satisfied with my compliance. He kissed me deeper, more intensely.

In the height of passion, his scorching lips pressed against my ear, his husky voice softly whispering my name.

"Chloe... I really like you, I love you."

Every word was like poison-laced honey, pouring into my ears, seeping into my bloodstream.

I closed my eyes, letting him take what he wanted.

Like me?

Love me?

If I hadn't heard his conversation with someone else firsthand, I might still have been deceived by his exquisite acting, drowning in this false affection, believing how genuinely and devotedly he loved me.

My body temperature was rising, but my heart was chilling, inch by inch.

My thoughts drifted back three years.

At that time, I publicly tore up my engagement with Blake, trampling on the dignity of Blake's family and that scoundrel couple.

A month later, Blake seemed like a changed man, appearing remorseful, relentlessly pursuing me.

He tearfully confessed that he had just been foolish and made a mistake, that he loved only me, begging for my forgiveness.

But I only felt immense disgust and extreme annoyance.

Just as Blake blocked me at a restaurant entrance yet again, Ethan appeared and rescued me from Blake's persistent harassment.

That was our first meeting.

But back then, I only saw him as a helpful stranger.

To my surprise, the next day at an important project collaboration meeting, I attended as the Davis Group's representative, only to discover with astonishment that the mysterious, low-key major shareholder and decision-maker of the other company, who had never appeared in the media, was none other than him.

In the meeting, he was composed and incisive, with unique insights, offering fair and strong support for my proposed plan.

After the meeting, he specifically walked over to me and said,

"Ms. Davis, I've heard much about you. I hope the previous incident didn't cause you too much trouble."

He was courteous and charming, a stark contrast to the cold sternness he showed when he drove Blake away.

Later, due to business dealings, we interacted more frequently.

He gave me admiring glances, timely assistance, and concern that went beyond professional partnership.

And Blake continued to haunt me.

Every time Blake came to bother me, Ethan just happened to be there.

For my sake, he didn't hesitate to get into conflicts with Blake. Once, outside a club, two men of significant status even came to blows, disregarding their dignity.

Ethan's eye was injured, but he successfully made Blake much more restrained afterward, no longer daring to approach me easily.

At the time, I thought Ethan and Blake were truly two completely different kinds of men.

One was composed and powerful, offering me respect and protection; the other was despicable and shameless, only capable of harassment.

My frozen heart was slowly pried open by Ethan, little by little.

I began to believe that there might still be true feelings in this world, and someone worth trusting.

I thought I had finally emerged from the shadow Blake cast, and found true salvation and love.

But today I learned that everything, absolutely everything, was just a grand play they put on for me, together!

One pursued me relentlessly, annoying me; the other appeared just in time, acting as my protector.

All for the purpose of making me fall deeply for Ethan, winning my trust, so they could slowly devour the Davis Group.